In case you haven’t yet checked out the new animated film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights — only one week before the live-action Green Lantern is out! — here are some clips to give you an idea of its appeal.

That, for me, can be wrapped up in two words: Nathan Fillion, who voices Hal Jordan. Here he is explaining the origin of the Green Lantern t-shirt he wore for recording.

And here’s the fan trailer they reference, intercutting GL with clips of Nathan from Firefly:

In an interview provided by Warner, Nathan talks about pretending to play the hero as a kid:

As a child, when you’re pretending you’re different super heroes, Green Lantern was the easiest because all you needed to light the fire in the imagination was the ring. Superman, you need a cape; Spiderman, you need a full face mask. That wasn’t tough to come by in a winter town like where I’m from, but they’re just too hot to wear in the summer. So to be Green Lantern, all you needed to do is suck a lifesaver down to the right size, and to make sure it’s a lime one –- slip it on your finger, and you were good.

As a kid, what I liked about Green Lantern was that he could do anything –- anything you could think of. It’s like “Wow, all I need is a giant mallet, or a catapult circa 1200s,” and suddenly he had it. I just thought that would be pretty cool to have anything you could kind of imagine. Imagination was always a big thing for me.

And he elaborates on the character’s appeal in this clip:

When asked why he thought he kept getting chosen to play comic book legends, Nathan responded:

I will say that I’ve been very fortunate. I can’t tell you why people are willing to offer me the opportunity, but I can say how it pleases me because as a kid collecting comic books, I had a great time with the way it kind of lights the fire in the imagination.

I always thought I had an overdeveloped sense of justice. Now looking back on my comic book days, my world kind of was formed around comic book justice. I think I have a very strong sense of comic book justice. Maybe that has something to do with how you take on a role. I mean, I’m steeped in the history of these characters. I know it and I love it.

I take the time to (voice characters in DCU films) exactly for the reason that it’s fun. I get a call saying “Hey, how would you like to come on down to record Green Lantern?” And I’m asking back, “Can we squeeze it in on a Sunday because that’s pretty much my only day off?” I want to make it work because I love doing it. More than that, I love being part of this lore. These are great characters -– you’ve got Green Lantern, you have Superman, you have Batman, you have the Flash, all these wonderful pieces of American pop culture. And now I’ve got a little piece. I can say, “Oh yeah, I was Green Lantern for a DVD movie.” Not a lot of people can say that. “Oh, Steve Trevor? Funny you should mention him.” (he laughs) It may sound silly, but it means something to me.

Yet Nathan also wants to play more villains:

Still, as long as he keeps playing heroes like this, as shown in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, I’ll be watching: